Mt. Roberts

This was my first Real Winter Hike. I did do a couple other hikes in "winter," but this had all the true elements of winter - snow on the ground, temp of 15 degrees, and winds at about 40 mph at the top of the mountain (there's a huge storm on the east coast, blizzard in DC, flakes in Boston, and winds in NH I guess.)  It was totally awesome!

Mt. Roberts is a pretty small mountain, 2583 feet, about a 5 mile hike in total. Given the cold and the wind, we didn't take a ton of breaks, just enough time for the hikers who were slower to catch up (that's right, I was in with the fast crowd!) When we got towards the summit, it was sooo windy, it was really blowing us around. We hit the top, took a half dozen pics, and then turned around and hiked back. That's the one flaw with winter hiking, you can't sit and enjoy the view.

The hike itself was really nice, only a couple of really steep parts, a really pretty pine forest to walk through, some fun exposed ridges that were super windy. I really liked being out in the winter hiking - it's easier with the snow because you don't have to pick your way around all the rocks. Also, it's easier on the knees :)

I wore a ton of layers - my Athleta running tights with the extra wind protection on front, then another pair of Athleta pants. Gore Tex gaiters that I just bought, LL Bean winter hiking boots, thick wool socks, my ninja hoodie, a thin North Face Fleece, a down vest and then my down puff. As I got up higher I added my new wind jacket from Columbia and a turtle fleece for around my neck. Plus my wool hat. And, thick gloves that I got at the LL Bean outlet along with the boots. I was feeling like the new boots, gloves and gaiters were a bit of an extravagance (which they were), but they sure made the hike better. I wasn't cold at all!  I did look like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Woman, so no pic of me, but some of the rest of the hike:

The view from one of the lookouts

The top :)

Horse farm near the bottom!